A Apple closed a deal with TSMC, the world's leading chip manufacturer, to avoid suffering as much from the shortage that continues to affect the sector. Even so, according to new forecasts from company executives, the growth in iPhone sales, iPads and other products will not be as expressive in 2021.
According to what was released this Wednesday (28/07), projections indicate that revenue for the 4th fiscal quarter will have a double-digit increase, but will be below the 36,4% recorded in the recently ended period. This will also affect the production of the iPhone 13, which is set to arrive between September and October.
In contact with investors, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, confirmed that while the iPhone 13 models will be manufactured with newer-generation chips, some older components will be affected by the shortage. “We have some shortages where demand has been so great and so far beyond our expectation that it is difficult to get the full set of parts within the lead times that we try to get them.”
Apple do the math
Angelo Zino, an analyst at consultancy CFRA, told Reuters that Apple may be starting to stockpile chips for the next generation of iPhones instead of current models as a way to try to overcome the shortage in the segment. The problem, according to him, is that, even so, production restrictions will certainly make it difficult to meet demand.
The company's current expectation is that sales will be restricted to between US$3 billion and US$4 billion in the quarter. According to Lucas Maestri, CFO of Apple, growth, including not only in sectors linked to the chip shortage, will slow. He projected that streaming services, television and even the App Store will not see gains comparable to those in June. “We expect significant growth, but not at the same level,” he concluded.
A15 Bionic is in production
The assurance that TSMC will give priority to the Apple and will try to prevent the company from being affected by the global shortage in chip production had start with the production of the A15 Bionic, the processor that will be under the hood of the iPhone 13 models.
It is being developed in a 5 nanometer process, and the expectation of Apple is to have a sufficient number of chipsets on hand so as not to delay the launch of the new flagship, which should happen between September and October of this year.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. Reuters
